NEWS AND EVENTS

Methamphetamine associated with crime trends

TWIN FALLS, Id. (KMVT / KSVT) The city of Twin Falls, similar to other cities across the nation, sees methamphetamine related to numerous crimes.

According to the Idaho Meth Project, the majority of U.S. Counties report that meth is their most serious drug problem – more than cocaine and marijuana combined.

Methamphetamine is easier and cheaper to manufacture outside of the country and then import into the United States.

That’s why meth from Mexico has created such a low cost and readily available supply to communities in Idaho.

“80 percent of the supply of meth in the United States comes from Mexican drug cartels and over 50 percent of Idaho’s prisoners say they are there in some way related to meth. Whether it’s direct meth related charges or they were committing crime because they were on meth,” said Jarred Aslett, Idaho Meth Project.

The meth related crimes come in waves, related to the meth being shipped in and then distributed.

When meth first hits the community, law enforcement typically sees erratic behavior by those users which can lead to criminal incidents.

“It tends to follow burglaries or thefts as people run out of money to purchase more meth they will turn to stealing to get money to purchase more methamphetamine and then after we see that distribution run out then it’s a little more quiet in the community,” said City of Twin Falls Public Information Officer, Josh Palmer.

In December, Maldonado Farias was driving from Texas to Seattle with nearly five pounds of methamphetamine.

An Idaho State Police Trooper discovered the drugs and Farias charged in Jerome with trafficking meth.

Law enforcement also works with other agencies and rehabilitation services to try to reduce the number of methamphetamine use and related crimes.

The Idaho Meth Project is a large scale prevention project which began in 2008.

“The goal is to get the information out to teens and spread the true dangers of the drug so they know what it’s all about and to not even try it once, that’s our message not even once,” said Aslett.

Meth use in Idaho has led to increased crime, larger jail and prison populations, and is directly related to domestic violence and child abuse.

As Idaho Meth Project’s message states, it is advised to not even try it once.